While many justifiably blamed his perceived beer belly at least partially on bad posture, it was still easy to be a bit concerned about Alex Ovechkin’s physical condition during this off-season. That being said, even if those images were as bad as they looked, they surfaced in July – giving Ovechkin plenty of time to sand that supposed gut down into a bump (at worst). Ultimately, I think that Washington Capitals shouldn’t be too concerned with their superstar captain’s fitness level.

Apparently Ovechkin agrees that everything will be OK. When asked about his weight, he told reporters that his “body is perfect right now.” If you take his comments at face value, then it might be safe to believe that Ovechkin will return to the beast-like form he exhibited in each of his seasons before (a notably unlucky) 2010-11 season. Here’s the full quote from Chuck Gormley of CSNWashington.com.

“People were a little bit scared about what happened to my body, but my body is perfect right now,” Ovechkin told reporters after announcing a six-year agreement with Bauer Hockey. “It was interesting for me because that’s never happened to me, people saying I’m in bad shape.”

While Mr. Big candy bars might be a bit obscure to American chocolate eaters (at least personally speaking), Ovechkin keeps adding more high-profile endorsements to his portfolio. Earlier this month, it was revealed that Ovechkin would boost Nike products. Now it’s clear that he will team up with Nike’s former partner Bauer.

To that end, Bauer Hockey and Ovechkin have agreed to donate 108 sets of equipment to the Dynamo Hockey School in Ovechkin’s hometown of Moscow. Another 108 sets of equipment will go to the Kettler Capitals Iceplex and the Potomac Valley Amateur Hockey Association in Washington.

One program that will benefit from the equipment donation will be the Fort Dupont Hockey Club, which was founded in 1977 in the driveway of Neal Henderson’s home in Springdale, Md. The club, which now has 65 players, teaches hockey and life skills to children in Washington’s poorest districts.

As Gormley points out, the goal isn’t just to benefit others with free equipment. Ovechkin seemed to quietly struggle with his previous skates and sticks, which means that the endorsement changes might not be for money-related reasons alone.

Ovechkin hopes his switch to Bauer produces more than just good will. Notorious for breaking sticks like toothpicks, Ovechkin is counting on Bauer to provide him with a sturdier product, which in turn should produce more goals.

“He’s been trying his hardest to break a stick and so far they seem to be indestructible,” Leonsis said, “and that makes us all smile.”

As long as he’s healthy, Ovechkin should have a much better campaign in 2011-12 by the law of averages alone. Most hockey players would consider selling their souls for a 32-goal, 85-point season, but for a phenom like Ovechkin, it was a down year. It wasn’t for a lack of trying, though; Ovechkin took 367 shots in 10-11, just one less than in 09-10. He just wasn’t getting the bounces that went his way for most of his career. Ovechkin connected on just 8.7 percent of shots, well below his career average of 11.9 percent.

The change in equipment will probably only make a subtle difference, if any at all. Yet if he feels more confident shooting with different sticks – and gets the bounces he should – then it’s easy to picture a 40+ or even 50+ goal season for Ovechkin … whether he has a “perfect body” or not.

With all of the Alexander Seminbashing lately, at least one of the Capitals’ Russian snipers is having a good offseason. Rumors broke this afternoon that Alexander Ovechkin was signing an endorsement deal with Nike. Originally, it was thought that Ovechkin’s news conference schedule for Tuesday was to announce the endorsement deal—but now it looks like the press conference is unrelated to tonight’s news.

“I can confirm that Alex has signed a long-term global partnership with Nike. Alex is going to be supporting all of the products that Nike makes — apparel, footwear, performance apparel, casual wear, accessories and other elements of the Nike family of products. So he will be wearing their performance product when he’s playing and practicing, when he’s training and in his lifestyle.”
“From a lifestyle standpoint, everybody knows that Ovi has a unique fashion sense.”

This isn’t Nike’s first foray into the NHL. Hockey fans might recall the memorable Nike commercial that featured Markus Naslund and Ilya Kovalchuk going mano y mano. In the 1990s, there were players who sported the swoosh on the ice; including Sergei Fedorov and currently Steven Stamkos as signed up with the Oregon-based shoe company.

It’s understandable why Nike would target Ovechkin for a long-term endorsement deal. Aside from Sidney Crosby (who is locked into a deal with Reebok), there isn’t a more recognizable hockey player on the planet. We’re talking about a guy who just had the worst season of his career and still managed 32 goals and 85 points last season to lead the Capitals. The man has averaged 50 goals and 102 points per season over his 6 year career. Sometimes fans get a bit callous to his regular season dominance since he’s entered the league.

The next step for Ovechkin (and now his marketing partner) is a deep run in the playoffs. Even though the Washington captain was arguably the best Capitals player on the ice during last year’s playoffs, the fact remains that they haven’t gone past the Conference Semifinals since 1998. For the new sponsor to get full return on their endorsement deal, they’ll want maximum visibility for their product wearing player. In the world of the NHL, there’s no bigger stage than a deep run in the playoffs.

Apparently the commercial is the first part of a series of spots between Ovechkin and the candy bars, so one can only imagine what other mystical powers the all-world sniper will unveil in commercials for the chocolatey treats in the coming days/weeks/months. (You can follow their official YouTube channel here.)

Of course, some mean spirited and snarky types will react to that far-from-flattering photo of Ovechkin and say that maybe he shouldn’t take his endorsement of candy bars so seriously, but let’s ignore those fitness-related worries for now and just enjoy the show.

First, here’s the commercial.

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This clip is much shorter, but it involves candy bar nunchucks, so I feel like I’d be letting you down if I didn’t share it as well.

Hockey history has its fair share of strange advertisements, although most of those come from spots for local businesses. That being said, national-level ones can get a little weird too, from Ryan Miller’s “Yo Mamma” ads for Amp energy drinks to the memorable Bud Ice penguin campaigns. Even with those clips in mind, it might be safe to say that CCM’s ads featuring Alex Ovechkin’s disembodied head are the strangest commercials to feature an NHL star.

In case you need a refresher, the two most prominent commercials featured Ovechkin’s head popping up in two locations: a high school kid’s locker and a bowling ball bag. In the first, he praised a young man for picking up the brand’s ice skates. In the second, he scolded the kid for going bowling, noting that the activity won’t improve his hockey performance. You can find video clips of both of these strange and awesome commercials at the bottom of this post.

It seems like Ovechkin has had his occasional struggles with his sticks and other equipment, something El-Bashir elaborates upon in the story.

It’s been well documented over the years that Ovechkin wasn’t always happy with the sticks CCM has provided for his use. During my time covering the Caps, I recall him occasionally experimenting with sticks from other manufacturers, and sometimes attempting to hide the fact by spray painting over the logo. I am told, though, that he used CCM sticks exclusively from the end of the 2009-10 season through the end of last season.

This is another example that on-ice equipment might be the one thing that professional athletes should think long and hard about before they actually endorse it, even if it’s the most functional thing a player could be paid to promote. It’s easy to gulp down a little bit of Gatorade (if that’s even Gatorade) in a commercial or pose beside some Cadillac for a local ad even if your only interest in the product is to get paid for giving the thumbs up, but if equipment just doesn’t feel right, that can affect your ability to excel on the ice. One might respond that it’s “all in their heads,” but considering the superstitious nature of many sports stars, that’s not to be taken lightly.

Abrutyn declined to say which companies Ovechkin is considering for his next endorsement deal. But, outside of CCM and its chief rivals, Bauer and Easton, there aren’t too many options when it comes to high-end hockey equipment.

I imagine we’ll hear something prior to the start of training camp and I bet it will be worth a lot of coin.